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EVIDENCE-BASED SPIRITUAL CARE FOR CHAPLAINS: Desirable? Feasible? How do we get there?

Hopelessness. -.46***. Religious Belief. .69***. .17**. *** p <.001, ** p <.01. N = 271. Depression. EVIDENCE-BASED SPIRITUAL CARE FOR CHAPLAINS: Desirable? Feasible? How do we get there? George Fitchett, DMin , PhD Department of Religion, Health and Human Values

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EVIDENCE-BASED SPIRITUAL CARE FOR CHAPLAINS: Desirable? Feasible? How do we get there?

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  1. Hopelessness -.46*** Religious Belief .69*** .17** ***p<.001, **p<.01. N = 271 Depression EVIDENCE-BASED SPIRITUAL CARE FOR CHAPLAINS: Desirable? Feasible? How do we get there? George Fitchett, DMin, PhD Department of Religion, Health and Human Values Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL george_fitchett@rush.edu

  2. Hopelessness -.46*** Religious Belief .69*** .17** ***p<.001, **p<.01. N = 271 Depression Outline: Evidence-Based Spiritual Care • Definitions • The case for and against • Some US chaplaincy-related research • Next steps

  3. How Do We Know Good Spiritual Care? Tradition – We have always done it this way. Policy – This is the way we are supposed to do it. Education – I was taught to do it this way. • Personal Experience/Trial and Error • – I found doing it this way usually works. • – I tried several ways and this this one works best. • Intuition – Doing it this way feels right to me. • Research – There is evidence this is the best way to do it. • From Hundley, 1999

  4. Evidence-Based Spiritual Care “Evidence-based spiritual care is the use of scientific evidence on spirituality to inform the decisions and interventions in the spiritual care of persons” Tom O’Connor (2002). Journal of Religion and Health

  5. What is Evidence-Based Practice? • Evidence-based practice in psychology is the integration of • the best available research • with • clinical expertise • in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. APA Policy Statement on Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology, 2005

  6. AGAINST Evidence-Based Spiritual Care It can’t be done Stiger: God, the Spirit, presence, prayer, etc. are much too big and always will be mysteriously beyond our attempts to measure and quantify. Mowat: At times the good outcome of chaplain care causes distress and anxiety Walter: Routinization of spiritual care destroys its ethos - vulnerability It shouldn’t be done Sulmasy: Once pastoral care services succumb to the need to prove they can decrease the length of stay or improve patient satisfaction all will be lost. Illich: Professionalized spiritual care robs people of the capacity to care for themselves and one another

  7. FOR Evidence-Based Spiritual Care “Evidence from research needs to inform our pastoral care. To remove the evidence from pastoral care can create a ministry that is ineffective or possibly even harmful” (O’Connor TSJ and Meakes E. 1998. The first article to use the term “evidence-based” pastoral care.)

  8. FOR Evidence-Based Spiritual Care “Is evidence-based spiritual care an oxymoron? I see it as a paradox, as ambiguity and as mystery” (p. 261, O’Connor, T ,2002) Good stewardship of creation requires our best, evidence-based, care (Grossoehme in Fitchett & Grossoehme, 2011)

  9. Can Religion and Science Co-Exist? Conflict: opposite and antagonistic, conflict Mutual independence: separate and different Dialogue: meeting on boundaries Integration Ian Barbour (Nature, Human Nature and God 2002)

  10. Chaplaincy: A Research-Informed Profession Standard 12: Research The chaplain practices evidence-based care including ongoing evaluation of new practices and when appropriate, contributes to or conducts research. (http://www.professionalchaplains.org)

  11. Chaplaincy: A Research-Informed Profession • Research Literacy All health care chaplains should be research literate • Research Collaboration Some health care chaplains will be qualified to collaborate in research conducted by health care colleagues (co-investigators) • Research Leadership Some health care chaplains will be qualified to lead research projects (principal investigators)

  12. Hopelessness -.46*** Religious Belief .69*** .17** ***p<.001, **p<.01. N = 271 Depression Chaplaincy: A Research-Informed Profession A research-literate chaplain has the ability to read, understand, and summarize a research study and to explain its relevance for his/her spiritual care.

  13. Anton T. BoisenExplorations of the Inner World: A Study of Mental Disorder and Religious Experience (Willett, Clark & Company, 1936)

  14. Chaplaincy-related Research in the US • What chaplains do • Describing & assessing spiritual needs & resources • The impact of the chaplains’ care by itself • The impact of the chaplains’ care in a multidisciplinary intervention

  15. Describing Spiritual Needs (369 oncology outpatients in NYC)

  16. Is R/S important to you as you cope with your illness? YES (82%) NO (18%) How much strength or comfort do you get from your R/S right now? Has there ever been a time when R/S was important to you? All that I need (40%) Less than I need or none at all (42%) R/S Struggle Path 1 YES (9%) R/S Struggle Path 2 NO (9%) Religious Struggle Screening Protocol in BRIGHTEN Participants (n=204) Screening Protocol from Fitchett and Risk, 2009 16

  17. Effect of Chaplain Visit on COPD Patient Anxiety p=0.05 Source: Iler et al. (2001).

  18. Effect of Chaplain Visit on COPD Patient LOS p=.01 Source: Iler et al., 2001

  19. Effect of Chaplain Visit on CABG Pt Anxiety & Depression anxiety depression Source: Paul S. Bay et al. The effect of pastoral services on anxiety, depression, hope, religious coping, and religious problem solving styles: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Religion and Health, 2008; 47:57-69.

  20. Effect of Chaplain Visit on CABG Pt Religious Struggle p=0.021 From Bay et al, J Religion and Health, 2008

  21. Comparison of Two RCTs About Chaplain Visits

  22. Next Steps: Begin with Case Studies

  23. Next Steps: Multi-disciplinary Studies

  24. Next Steps: Outcomes Oriented Care Cadge et al., 2011

  25. Next Steps: Outcomes Oriented Care Fitchett et al, J Palliat Med., 2011

  26. Discipline for Pastoral Care Giving – Arthur Lucas, 2001 Next Steps:Outcome Oriented Care Profile • Concept of Holy • Meaning • Hope • Community

  27. Next Steps: Best Practices in Chaplaincy http://healthcarechaplaincy.org/userimages/Spiritual%20Care%20PTSD%20Handbook1.pdf

  28. Next Steps: Evidence-based Care

  29. Next Steps: Evidence-based Care

  30. Next Steps: Chaplain Education and Certification • Need to teach research literacy skills in CPE residency programs • Create research journal clubs in chaplaincy departments • Demonstrate research literacy for chaplaincy certification Fitchett et al , 2012

  31. Introduction to RESEARCH A Didactic Webinar for CPE Residents Eight 90 minute sessions 2012—2013 Hosted by the ACPE Academy • Our research website: • www.rushu.rush.edu/rhhv • click on Research in Religion, Health & Human Values

  32. When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. from When Death Comes by Mary Oliver

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